LPGA major champion's splash tradition will continue, even if she only wades into a 'kiddie pool'

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Mao Saigo (center) jumps into the pond at The Club at Carlton Woods after winning in 2025.

Alex Slitz

The winner will have to answer the question for herself and her team, to jump or not? When the move from the private course to the public course (sans water) was announced, it figured the pond jumps were over. But Chevron and Memorial Park have strong ties, and the decision was made to build the feature. The pool is being paid for by the tournament, according to the LPGA, and it figures to a one-off situation, with architect Tom Fazio renovating the 18th hole over the next year and including a water feature

The LPGA views it through the scope of tradition, not the size of the pool. It believes that champions of this major are associated with wearing a post-splash white robe as much as Masters winners don a green jacket.

“I don't view it as a man-made pond that's going into Chevron,” LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler told Golf Digest. “Here's what I view it as: The LPGA has a couple of very special traditions that we want to honor, and this is one of those. When we talk to our players … you ask, ‘What are some of your favorite traditions on the LPGA tour?’ They talk about Poppie's Pond and the evolution of it. And what we're trying to do at Chevron is pay homage to the past champions and the traditions that make the LPGA so great. Whether a player jumps in or not, it’s totally up to that player, but this is fundamentally about honoring something that's special to our tour, and we're proud of.”

Credit the LPGA for trying, making myriad changes under Kessler, whether it’s a home run or belly flop. With the cannon-ball friendly new pond coming in 2027 at Memorial Park, the question is whether the LPGA was in too much of a rush to continue the tradition with what some refer to it as a kiddie pool.

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Stacy Lewis (second from left) jumps into Poppie's Pond with her entourage after she won the 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship.

MARK RALSTON

Hannah Green has won four times worldwide this season, so she has to be considered among the favorites to win this week. After hoisting the JM Eagle LA Championship trophy on Sunday, Green said, “It’s going to be a bit of a hazard; I don’t know. People could hurt themselves.”

Asked if she’d still dip her toe in if she won, Green believed she would.

Star amateur Asterisk Talley, who is just 17 and playing the Chevron on a sponsor’s exemption, is definitely on board with the tradition started decades ago. Asked if she won if she’d jump, she answered with a tepid yes.

“Obviously, I’d jump in, but maybe I’d be a little scared now because it’s only four feet,” said the 5-foot-10 Talley. “I think it’s great they’re trying to carry on that tradition. It’s what people like to see. Just happy they’re doing that. That’s what the winner looks forward to at the end of the week. It’s going to be a good thing.”